Friday, August 8, 2008

Significance of 8 In Chineese Culture

OK, so I knew that the number 8 was considered a lucky number but I never really thought about why it was considered lucky. I'm not really one for superstition. My favorite number is 7 but I don't find it particularly lucky. When I was 7, I had my tonsils removed. When I was 17, I started college and hated almost every moment of that freshman year. When I was 27, I had a miscarriage. So, even though I like the number, I definitely don't find it to be particularly lucky.

Today, the Summer Olympics started in Beijing, China. They started the opening ceremonies at 8 seconds past 8:08 on today, 08/08/08. Why, oh, why such a strong focus on the number 8?!?!? Here's what I learned... The word for eight in Mandarin is pinyin which is pronounce "ba." This is very similar to the word for prosperity or wealth which is pronounced "fa." In other Chinese dialects the words for eight and fortune are similar and in Cantonese, the words sound the same as well.

Perhaps that is the reason why my boy gives me so much joy. Or why my hands start to clappy when I feel real happy. Or, the reason why candy tastes so dandy. Maybe that's why we Americans have such a problem with weight. Our pronunciation of eight sounds like weight and it also sounds like all the food we ate.

I'm just being silly, but numerology is something that I don't know a whole lot about and I found this introduction to it by the Summer Olympics rather interesting.

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